Edgar Reed II, 95, died peacefully Dec. 9, 2019 at the family’s home in Worcester, Massachusetts. Born in Worcester, he was the son of Alden and Florence (Morse) Reed.

Edgar graduated from Harvard College, Class of 1946. During World War II he served in the United States Navy in the Pacific theater. Edgar later joined the former Reed & Prince Mfg. Co. of Worcester, and went on to become president. He was a sixth generation manufacturer in the fastener industry. He specialized in operations efficiency and was known for finding novel solutions to complex manufacturing and materials handling challenges. One example was a method for handling wire rod that was later adopted by Bethlehem Steel. He held a number of patents in screw and fastener design, some which aided wooden boatbuilding, including special fasteners for Chris Craft. He was a recipient of the Mechanix Illustrated Golden Hammer Award.

Throughout his life he split his time between Worcester and Boothbay Harbor where he developed a lifelong interest in boating. At the age of 12 his father allowed him to take the family’s open launch SAMOA anywhere they had been together. His playground became the open ocean and the route by boat to the harbor from the Isle of Springs was no longer the short route through Townsend Gut — no, it became the long route around Cuckolds Lighthouse! Once in the harbor, Edgar was under the watchful eye of Harold Jordan, the kindly head steward at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. From there, Edgar would typically run off to the drug store for a strawberry phosphate.

As a teenager he learned to sail by crewing for the renowned yacht designer W. Starling Burgess aboard the Boothbay Harbor One Design sloop FRAULEIN. Sailboat racing became one of his favorite pastimes against arch rivals Philip Haselton, Ted Leonard Jr., and the team of Peter Van Voast and Elinor Fosdick “Fuzzy” Downs. It was around this time that Edgar was invited by his neighbor, Professor Chester Dawes, to cruise the Maine coast which he so enjoyed that he made sure to get a cruiser for himself later in life.

Edgar will be best remembered by friends and family for being among the first in Maine to take up the then new sport of water-skiing in 1940. At the age of 29 he water-skied from Boothbay Harbor to Portland, a fete he repeated at the age of 61. He last water-skied at the age of 83. He will also be remembered as someone who would pick up his bugle to blow reveille, charge or “To The Color” on impromptu occasions often to the embarrassment of his family.

He was a member and a past commodore of the Down East Yacht Club and a past president of the Isle of Springs Association.

He was predeceased by an older brother, Wendell Chapin Reed, who died as an infant, and a foster sister, Joyce (Tilson) Reed Richardson.

He leaves two sons, Alden Reed II of Worcester, and Edgar Reed III of Maine; a granddaughter, Kimberly Reed Nutt of Falmouth, Massachusetts; his former wife, Mary Jane MacGilvra Reed; and several nephews.

Mercadante Funeral Home in Worcester is handling the arrangements. Burial will be private. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.